December 3, 2019 Students Upcycle Clothing for Third Annual Fashion Show

Student organization, Alpha Rho Chi, put on a dazzling event called the THRIFT Fashion Show on November 22. Located at the Emporium Arts Center downtown, the event, which was part of the TAAST Fall Ball, was an innovative way to view the creative art of fashion designed by our students and help the local community at the same time.

For several weeks leading up to the fashion show, Alpha Rho Chi gathered used clothing to repurpose, restyle and remake as the clothing modeled by students in the fashion show. The group also is helping the community by donating much of the clothing to Goodwill and Trumpet Cloth, a startup store started by UT School of Art student, Mary Allison Sutinis.

The theme of the fashion show was “Inverted,” which encouraged participants to think of their designs in unusual ways. Clothing was reversed, flipped, turned upside down and most importantly unique to the designer’s style.

“The point of this event was to put out a sustainability message and create a fashion outlet for students in the college,” said Grace Shoffner, third-year Architecture student and THRIFT Committee Chair.

President of Alpha Rho Chi, Leah Cassetty, a fifth-year Architecture student, said, “Now in its third year, THRIFT serves as a creative outlet that brings students together to promote awareness of the issues of fast fashion and clothing waste and investigates how old clothes can be upcycled to create a new designed object.”

The THRIFT Fashion Show is an example of our students’ generosity of spirit and our maker culture and ability to offer outlets that explore creativity and expression.

Alpha Rho Chi is a national professional fraternity for architecture and the allied arts. With the fashion show, Alpha Rho Chi at UT wanted to create a unique event that reflected the organization’s values and create a presence within the college. Students interested in joining Alpha Rho Chi can visit www.apxtheodorus.com/recruitment.